How to identify a bottleneck?

LateX'Dog · 4 Sep 2011 at 22:34

Hey guys, just wondering if there is a method to determine which part is bottlenecking my system?

i7 920 @ 4.2
Asus P6X58D-E
6gb 1600mhz
64gb SSD Corsair
2x 1gb GTX 460's @ 810/1620/2100

Thanks.

Krony · 4 Sep 2011 at 22:39

Monitor cpu and gpu usage, if the cpu usage is 100% while gaming and the gpu's are less, maybe 50% ish then there is a good chance the cpu is bottlenecking the gpu's, i would say tho a 920 @ 4.2GHz is more than enough for thoes cards, try overclocking the gpu's a bit and test, if u get more fps then it's probably the gpu's.

LateX'Dog · 4 Sep 2011 at 22:43

Krony said:
Monitor cpu and gpu usage, if the cpu usage is 100% while gaming and the gpu's are less, maybe 50% ish then there is a good chance the cpu is bottlenecking the gpu's, i would say tho a 920 @ 4.2GHz is more than enough for thoes cards, try overclocking the gpu's a bit and test, if u get more fps then it's probably the gpu's.

Thanks for the tip.

PanchoVilla · 4 Sep 2011 at 23:11

Takes me back to my Quantitative Analysis days. If you are word processing, then the bottleneck is the user. Running a huge database, then the SSD will most likely be the bottleneck. But since we are in real world (hah!), the bottleneck is likely to be gfx cards. If you are folding, then the cpu.

edit: take this post lightly, Krony's advice is good.

panyan · 4 Sep 2011 at 23:18

LateX'Dog said:
Thanks for the tip.

remember to try a few different games as some games are cpu reliant, others can be gpu reliant